A Trip Down Memory Lane
by laurzz
Summary: DannyLindsay. post-ep for 9x07. "Who knew that introductions and first impressions could be life changing?"


**A/N: Helllllo! I am still living! I promise! hahah I've had a busy bee day today and didn't get to see the episode until earlier this evening (I was out spending my paycheck as per usual on a Saturday! hahah) So naturally because I hadn't seen it, i've been avoiding facebook and twitter which has been a killer... I didn't want to spoil myself and boy am I glad I did avoid both. wowwww! what an amazing episode! eeee! And we got some amazing DL to state but the obvious... and Lucy's name was mentioned twice? twice? ahhh! it's the little things. hahaha **

**thank you to everyone who have so kindly been reviewing all of the things I've been posting recently. Fred has been going crazy! It must be all the DL going to his mind. I absolutely love reading all your reviews and I really cannot tell you how much I appreciate them! they're always so kind and such a pleasure to read. your love for the stories I post literally warms my heart, so thank you to those of you who review, and to those of you who just come every week and read the stories and go away with a smile on your face. I appreciate you guys too! I hope I make your days a little brighter! :) **

**so, with that in mind, special thanks to: gigglesforcsi, CTI_Jenn, MesserFamilyFan100, Catty, Loveshipper, unlikelyRLshipper, brendanakai, Alex Joleta, 18lzytwner, elr (welcome to the world of fanfic!) and afrozenheart412. I am going to try and get back to your reviews tonight at some point... maybe tomorrow. I have quite a lot of catching up to do with quite a lot of you so stand by. **

**In the meantime, here's the post-ep for 9x07! :) Enjoy!**

* * *

"_Messer, seriously though. It's been three times this week alone! She's verging on bullying me now."_

"_Flack, get a grip. I don't know what to tell you, buddy; she's never done that kinda stuff to me. Maybe she's got a crush on you." Danny smirked as his eyes went back to his evidence. _

"_Yeah, bullshit." Flack snorted. "If you don't know that she's completely in love with you than you're more stupid than I already thought you were."  
_

"_You say the nicest shit to me." Danny grinned before swabbing a blood stain and dropping the cotton bud into some solution. "You think she loves me?"_

"_You want it spelling out for you? She's got it for you bad, Danno. You've got it bad too." _

"_Sure thing," Danny snorted. "We're just having fun. When you ask her, that's what she says. Nobody's in love with anyone. We're just going out and seeing what happens. Don't start naming our kids and pets just yet. We might not even work out yet, Flack."_

"_That's absolute bullshit and you know it." Flack implored. "I've got a good mind to start making bets on your kids' birthdays and set you a wedding date."_

"_If you've not got anything better to do…" Danny smirked. "You seem to be more vested in us than we are in ourselves… if you're so convinced that she loves me, why hasn't she told me?"  
_

"_Because I'm about ninety nine percent positive that you'd run in the opposite direction if she did. Plus, Linds isn't like that."  
_

"_Well when you ask her, she says she likes where we are."  
_

"_For now." Flack implored. "And not to mention she knows it's what you want to hear… I didn't come here for a little pow-wow about you and Monroe; I need your help Danno. She won't expect it from you… it'll be perfect."_

"_I'm not getting involved." He said as he pulled off his rubber gloves and folded them inside of each other as he took his sample to the GCMS machine. "What did she even do?"_

"_Well, we went to go and get that doll, right? Melanie or Melody or whatever the hell it's name is-"_

"_Her name," Danny smirked. "Have a little respect, man. She might be a doll but she's got feelings too." _

"_Don't you start!" Flack spat. "So, I made an innocent comment when we got back on the street about how the doll would be better than dating and how it would save on dinner…"_

"_And miss out on all the best parts of a relationship?" Danny implored. "No thanks."_

"_Oh, you're in a relationship now?" Flack smirked. "And what is that, considering you seem to be the master."  
_

"_Well, sex on a pool table, pushing the boundaries at the movies… acceptable and expected booty calls after shift with sexy underwear… oh, I'm sorry; did I share too much?"  
_

"_And in and amongst all of those wonderful endeavours do you get to cuddle, snuggle and nuzzle each other?"_

"_What did she do that was so mortifying, Flack?" Danny sighed, ignoring Flack's smart-ass remark._

"_Well, in front of a whole bunch of people she started out with the dramatics and basically made out that we were like dating and I was dumping her for a doll. She made me look crazy."_

_Danny bit his lip and couldn't help the snigger than snorted out of him. "You've gotta admit Flack, that's pretty funny. She's been blessed with some wit."_

"_Well, that's easy for you to say… luckily there wasn't anyone around there that was worthy of impressing, but had she done it somewhere else… it could have been devastating for my social life."  
_

"_What social life?" Danny snorted. "You're living in a dream world, Flack." _

"_Whatever… I'll get her back with or without your help, Messer. You're so whipped… you're no fun anymore."  
_

"_Yup, whatever Flack," Danny rolled his eyes as he stared at the screen analysing his results. "We done here? Or do you have other things you need to cry about?"_

"_We're done." Flack sulked. "For now." He added quickly before turning on his heel and stomping out into the hallway and out of sight._

_As soon as he couldn't see Flack anymore, he pulled out his phone and started a new text message to Lindsay. _

You were right; Flack is pissed and seeking revenge. I'd lay low and avoid him at all costs, hah. He's plotting and tried to get me in on it… you'll be pleased to know I refused. I'm pretty sure he's declaring war on the both of us though…

_He put his phone on the desk next to him as he waited for her reply. Almost instantly, his phone vibrated against the desktop and he swiped his finger across the screen to open up the message. _

Bring it, so long as I have you to protect me… I'll be just fine.

* * *

"So, let me get this straight… all those years ago when you were acting all righteous and above pranks was bullshit… what happened to that then?" Flack smirked. "Marriage getting a little boring, Messer?"

"Marriage is quite wonderful thank you," He scoffed. "I… it was supposed to be the dingbat, Adam! I promised Linds I'd get him back for that aging thing he did months ago but I never got round to it. I saw him being delegated ballistics today and the idea hit me… but then Lindsay being the wonderful person she is told him he could finish off whatever he was doing and she'd do ballistics for their case instead… so it backfired."

"Have you told her?"

"I was about to… in the park but… she seemed pissed. She's going to literally kill me. She said it was me earlier and I denied it."

"You want my opinion Messer?" Flack smirked as he secured the Kevlar vest around his torso. "Get a good lawyer, secure the locks on your new apartment and run for your life. She took me into interrogation earlier and sat me down and literally interrogated me about it. She was so serious I didn't even laugh… God help you and Lucy. She's a firecracker when she wants answers."

"No kidding." Danny sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair. "She's going to be pissed."

"To say but the least." Flack smirked. "It's nice to be on the other side of this… it's been a while since I punked her good."

"Well I apparently did it for you." Danny paled as he knocked his head against the wall. "She's not going to forgive me for this… she was so mad, Flack."

"I bet she was no madder than when you sent her to work with Lucy's lunch last week. Her face was a picture when she realised she had cheese and crackers and a juice box and Lucy had gone to work with a nice Salad and smoothie. The kid was eatin' good that day."

"I'm the world's worst husband." Danny closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "How am I supposed to tell her it was me? She's literally going to kill me… with all of the murder weapons we have in the lab. She's just going to use all of them. She was so embarrassed Flack, and I laughed it off…"

"Danny, you're acting as if the world is gonna end… you've got the greatest wife you could dream of. She's easy-going. She'll be pissed but if you hand her a bunch of roses and take her out for dinner then she's going to forget all about the prank… until she looks in the mirror… then you'll be running for your life again. It's a nice cycle really."

"Alright, smartass. I'm taking away some of that advice and the rest you can shove up your-"

"You ready to go, Flack?" Jamie Lovato called from the locker room door. "Mac and Jo are waiting."

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute."

"The lady beckons." Danny smirked.

"Something like that… she's actually alright ya'know." Flack said as he attached his piece to his Kevlar. "I could get used to her."

"I think you're already used to her," Danny smirked. "What was the Jets' score last week?"

"Funny." Flack rolled his eyes. "Good luck with Linds… you're gonna need it."

"Thanks, jackass. Go jump off a building."

"I'd rather do that then be you right now." Flack smirked over his shoulder as he disappeared from the precinct locker room.

Danny sat on the bench and held his head in his hands. Flack had been no help to him… just like he'd been no help a thousand years ago when Lindsay had topped all of her previous pranks and got Flack with the doll. Although Flack had been a pain in the ass about it, some of what he said made sense… dinner and some roses may do a little damage control… and maybe, just maybe, he could wrangle a few things to make it up to her…. as the ideas came flooding to mind, he knew what he had to do…

* * *

Rocking back and forth on his feet as the elevator ascended the thirty five floors from the lobby to the lab, Danny felt his heart race. He knew she had about ten minutes left on her shift, which would just give him enough time to make it to the locker room and be there waiting for her when she came to get her stuff.

As the elevator dinged, he waited for the doors to open and nearly collided with his wife. He could tell that although she was over the initial annoyance of the prank, she was still a little wary of her appearance. He felt the guilt all over his face and based on the look on her face, he wasn't hiding it particularly well. He knew it wasn't that big of a deal in all honesty, but he did feel genuinely bad for getting Lindsay caught in the cross fire between his little game with Adam. She'd been mortified and even though she'd never admit it… a little hurt that somebody she worked with would do that to her. And for it to be him – the one person she hoped it wouldn't be - hurt him a little. As she accepted his flowers and snuggled into his side, he felt the guilt only increase. He turned his face to look at her, the blue tint around her eyes fading as the hours passed and he sighed heavily. "Montana, honey, I'm sorry."

"I know." She rolled her eyes as the elevator began its descent. "So you know, I'm getting dessert at dinner… I think it's only fair."

"Yep." He chuckled as he pressed a kiss to her temple. "How do you like those roses?"

"They're pretty." She smiled. "I see there's eight again."

"Yep." He smiled. "One for every year." He winked as he thanked himself for that move a couple of months ago when he took her home some roses for being… well, a jackass.

"You do a good job of hiding it sometimes, but really you're just a big romantic under that tough guy exterior," she whispered as she stood on her tiptoes and laid a hand on his chest to steady herself as she softly brushed her lips against his. "I might even share my dessert with you."

He returned the kiss and wrapped his arms around her, mindful of the thorny roses that she held in her hand. "Where you wanna go eat?" he asked as the elevator began slowing. "We can go anywhere you want… and it doesn't even need to have a child's menu."

"Do those places exist?" she smirked as she took his hand and squeezed it softly as she admired and smelled her roses.

"So I've been told."

"I don't know," she said softly as the elevator doors opened. She rolled her eyes at the sniggers from the waiting crowd about the blue rings around her eyes.

"I know honey," he said loudly as he squeezed her hand. "People just don't understand that though… medical conditions like yours are rare and people are just ignorant to the struggles you have to go through."

"It's just so difficult," she cried dramatically as she forced their way past the gawping crowd, mutters of embarrassment filling the air around them, "I'm so glad I have you to ease the pain."

He bit his lip as they managed to clear the crowd and began quickly for the exit of their building. He directed a wink at her and she couldn't help but giggle. Together they were just goofballs; and even though he was a pain her ass, she wouldn't have him any other way.

* * *

"You sure?" Danny asked as he held the door open, giving her one last chance to enter the high-end restaurant. "You've always said you wanted to go here…. I brought my credit card."

"Yeah but," she stood on her tiptoes and looked inside. "Now that I've got the chance… it doesn't feel right." She glanced to her left and looked a couple dressed in a tuxedo and ball gown enter the restaurant. She took another step back and shook her head. "I'm still in my work stuff. We don't fit here, Danny… I've got blue rings around my eyes for crying out loud. I appreciate the gesture, but… let's go somewhere else."

"Sure?" he said, as he held onto the door for one last chance. He saw Lindsay's eyes fixed on something so he turned to see what she was looking at. The guy that Lindsay had just looked at was offering a twenty in his direction, presumably for holding the door open. Danny licked his lips before sniggering and accepting the twenty. He let the door go, bumping the woman on the ass as she shuffled in with her ball gown. Lindsay let out a snort as Danny took her hand. "Easiest twenty I've ever made."

"You just ripped her dress!" Lindsay implored as she gestured to the woman's torn ball gown. "We better go, when they realise they're going to be expecting more twenties than you have free on your credit card there."

Danny wiggled his eyebrows as he tugged Lindsay down the street as he pocketed his newly earned cash. Despite the fast pace of all of those in a rush around them, they enjoyed walking slowly together, hand in hand.

"So," Lindsay said as she tucked her roses under her arm. "How badly did you freak out when you realised what had happened?"

"On a scale of one to ten?" he started, "Probably sixty two… then when you started talking about it and how mad you were I think it wasn't even measurable. I'm surprised I didn't drop dead right there in ballistics. You were _pissed."_

She giggled. "Well, I highly doubt anyone will try anything with me ever again. I made two lab techs cry and a detective from Flack's precinct got a little angry with me when I demanded to see their badges… I mean how was I supposed to know that I needed to look a little closer to home?"

"I said I was sorry!" he implored. "I got you roses, we're going out for dinner and I have a surprise planned… what more do you want, woman?"

"A surprise?" she squeaked. "What kind of surprise."

"A surprise I think you're gonna like." He smiled. "How about here?" Danny pointed to another fancy restaurant. Lindsay pursed her lips together thoughtfully. Although it looked more like them, she still didn't feel it was right. She turned on her heel and looked around their surroundings. She could see a McDonalds, which was definitely out of the question, a Chinese take-out and a thai food place… and then her eyes laid on where they were destined to go. She took his hand and began pulling him to the edge of the sidewalk so that they could cross the road in between the stream of New York taxi cabs.

"Where the hell are we going?" he asked as they weaved in and out of traffic.

"Here." She smiled as they settled outside the perfect place.

Danny glanced up as the absorbed the image of the Italian restaurant they had gone to on their first official date after she got back from Montana. When Danny thought Italian, really it was just a Pizza place… but it was perfect. Perfectly them.

Lindsay took his hand and excitedly tugged him in through the familiar doors placed her roses on their usual table. Just as she was about to pull out the wooden chair on the laminate flooring, Danny pulled the chair out for her, and gestured for her to sit down. She looked up at him through her lashes, ignoring the blue tint she could see, and smiled brightly.

She didn't need a flashy restaurant with an expensive menu and fancy food… all she needed was her husband and a smile on her face.

As Danny took his seat next to her at their little table, they waved at the aged Italian owner and smiled at his excited Italian musings as he grabbed his pen and little booklet that he wrote all of his orders down in… even though they had the same thing every time they came in.

Danny ordered for them, Lindsay watching him contently as he did so. He glanced over at her briefly and smiled at the look of happiness on her face and took her hand from across the table and squeezed it softly. He shook the owner's hand with his free one, and Lindsay accepted the pinch of her cheeks from him. Every time, she mused to herself, without fail. But with every pinch of her cheeks that he offered her, she was reminded of the giggles and the excited she'd had on her first date with Danny. And now, even years later, she felt that same excitement… mixed with a lot more love and adoration for the guy that had once been her boyfriend who had turned into the man that was her husband.

* * *

Lindsay looked down to her watch and furrowed her brow as Danny pulled her through the turnstiles. "Um, it's eight thirty." She pointed out. "Why are we going into the zoo when it's closed?"

"Because," he said. "Don't ask questions… just go with the flow."

"I don't understand," she squeezed his hands tight as he led her through the darkened zoo. She could hear the calls of the animals all around her and although she was safe with Danny, she had to admit that she was a little unnerved by the situation. "Danny, are you sure we-"

"Lindsay," he sighed as he stopped them and turned her so that he had his hands on both of her shoulders. "Sometimes it's okay not to know exactly what is going on. You don't have to be in control of everything all the time."

"I know," she rolled her eyes. "I just… I'm glad I'm not blindfolded."

In the small light around them, Lindsay could see Danny bite his lip and lean in towards her. "That's for later." He whispered softly in her ear.

"Maybe in that case you can prank me every week." She said quietly as he retook her hand and continued on their path. "I think I could get used to this kind of treatment… so long as you're not going to feed me to the snow leopards."

"Why would I do that?" he implored. "I'd hardly be able to keep the apartment clean without you… and Lucy would just be a pain in the ass. It's not worth the hassle."

"Oh wow, thanks." She mused. In the distance she could see a light surrounding one enclosure. "I take it that's where we're headed."

"Your observational skills never fail." He smirked in the increasing light.

"And yet your wit just keeps failing constantly. What's up with that?"

Sighing heavily in mock annoyance, Danny tugged her the last fifty feet to their destination. He stopped outside a specific enclosure and she couldn't help but smile.

She cast a quick glance in Danny's direction and found that he was busy looking at the tigers playing in their little environment. She looked into the enclosure and pursed her lips together. It seemed strange that it looked so… Her heart that had already been beating fast increased tenfold. It surely wasn't…. it couldn't… was it?

"So, guess what I found out," he said as he positioned himself behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"What did you find out?" she smiled as she turned her head and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"That there's this whisper among the trees that if two people meet in this very spot, they're destined to fall in love, get married, have a baby and live happily ever after."

"Really?" Lindsay bit her lip to stop the smile from her already aching cheeks.

"Yeah, I don't know… I mean, I've never met two people who actually met in this very spot. Can you think of anyone?" He whispered into her ear and pressed a kiss to her neck. "I mean… surely two people wouldn't meet here, in the zoo. It seems like a strange place to meet someone for the first time."

"Hmm," she whispered as she leaned back into his embrace and closed her eyes. As she thought back, she could feel the butterflies in her stomach as she heard the echo in her mind of her first exchange with two people that had become very important to her in the past years.

'_Detective Taylor… Lindsay Monroe."_

"_Ah, my new investigator from Bozeman."_

"_Your office told me to come down as soon as I arrived."_

"_Glove up." _

"_Now?"  
_

"_Are you here to watch or work?"_

"_Do you want me to start processing?"_

"_Danny's got that covered…" _

"Do you know what else I've heard?" Danny whispered in her ear as he brought her back from 2005. "That this very tiger right there is the same tiger you took impressions of on your first day."

"Shut up!" She cried as she watched the aged tiger settle on the rocks in front of them. "Are you serious?"

Danny nodded proudly. "And those right there, are her cubs… they were born in May."

"The same month as Lucy!" Lindsay cried excitedly.

"That'd be me… Danny Messer, how ya doin'." She could feel Danny's smile against her cheek as he whispered his first ever words to her in her ear. "Who knew that introductions and first impressions could be life changing?"

"Who knew," she whispered, looking down at her wedding band. She'd come to New York all those years ago looking for a break. A new, fresh start… little did she know that her fresh start would bring so much more than she had ever bargained for. All wrapped up in the form of Danny Messer.

* * *

**There we have it. I wanted to mix in quite a lot for this post-ep because there were so many potential links for DL to mention, but hey ho... I'll take a dare and roses any day! I'll just have to fill in the blanks for myself... because obviously this happened off screen ;) Thanks for reading - I'd love to know what you thought. **


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